


Danny Fenton and Other Things That Should Stay Buried

by Skildpadde



Category: Danny Phantom, The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried - Shaun David Hutchinson
Genre: Alternative Universe - No Ghosts, Crossover, Danny Fenton is dead, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Mortician intern Sam Manson, Not Ghost Danny Fenton, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 07:49:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30001647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skildpadde/pseuds/Skildpadde
Summary: He’s screaming and has no idea why.So he stops. Except not. No. He’s definitely not screaming.Oh. It’s Sam. Sam is screaming. She’s there wide eyed, screaming like someone shanked her with a rusty pike. But what’s going on?---If you haven't read The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson, I recommend reading it, I enjoyed it.You DON'T need to read the book to understand this story though.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Danny Fenton and Other Things That Should Stay Buried

**Author's Note:**

> This story is following the plot of The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried, but with the DP characters. Only half of the plot will be here though because while Sam is replacing Dino and Tucker is I guess replacing Rafi, they aren't dating. Their friendship is struggling after Danny's death, Danny is replacing July in this story.
> 
> And instead of Sam/Dino living with a family of morticians, I thought it'd be better if she still came from a rich family and she's interning at a morgue because she's interested in that career.
> 
> I wanted to keep the DP characters as close to how they are in the show, it's just they've been thrown into this situation. So ghosts are also not real.
> 
> The story doesn't start where The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried starts, it's a bit ahead because I really wanted to skip the introduction and get right into what got me really interested in this book.

Sam walks through the door into the preparation room, she likes being in here. The stainless steel and all around clean room, totally opposite of how it’s shown in horror films. The metal embalming tables empty, and cabinets filled with tools and chemicals. The fluorescent lights shining over head make her skin look like the dead. Across from her is the large freezer taking up space on the far side.

Sam opens the freezer door, and there inside is a body.

Waiting to be rolled out on the gurney lies Danny Fenton. Death by electrocution, shocked, a loose wire in his parents’ basement found when goofing off. With the mess it is down there it was only a matter of time for a medical emergency, but it’s not really an emergency if they died the second it happens.

_ What am I doing? _

Danny’s gurney is wheeled to a prep station. A sheet covers him from the shoulders down, it’s obvious that the owner has already started preparing the body, the makeup was all wrong though. Danny was always on the pale side, not the little too dark or rosiness he had on his face now.

Rationally, Sam knows, she knows this cadaver is the boy she told secrets to. The boy who cried in her arms when stressed, the boy Sam watched movies with Tucker and fought with when he was irrational. Her brain told her that this is the boy who stalked Dash to get his locker combination only to use it to steal his pencils to spite all the times Dash destroyed his homework. This is who went with her to Circus Gothica every year, even though he hated it, so that she didn’t have to go alone.

But this can’t be him. He has to be on the other side of Amity Park, in his bedroom playing DOOM with Tucker while ignoring the essay due next week, reading about the latest news from NASA, and that she’ll see him at Casper High on Monday.

Her heart won’t believe this is Danny because if it is that means the last words she said to him were “You’re being unreasonable”.

“I hate you for dying, Danny. I hate that you listened to my dumb advice in your basement, and your parents weren’t home to stop us and the paramedics for not getting to you quickly enough and the doctors in the ER for not saving you.” Her voice is just a whisper, but it doesn’t matter. No matter if she shreds her throat screaming, Danny wouldn’t hear.

She grabs the makeup skit from the cabinet and digs out the foundation that matches Danny’s skin tone. Danny definitely got his pale complexion from his mom, doesn’t matter if he stands in the sun all summer he’ll always be a white sheet, if not horribly sunburned.

Sam slides her phone out and searches through her playlists, she finds the one Danny and her made in the beginning of high school. It’s full of songs from Humpty Dumpty and a few other bands, random sappy songs are thrown in as well. Their only purpose is to draw a deeply upset sigh from the one who’s listening, they’re not taken out though, because when it’s being listened to together it can draw some laughs soon after. Sam cranks up the volume and begins working on making Danny presentable.

Sam has worked on other bodies before during her internship, the trick is forgetting that it’s a body. Focus on drawing the lips, and smoothing out the blemishes on the forehead. Ignoring the stitches at the hairline from where the skill was sawed through for the autopsy or the puckered lines at his shoulders. A photograph is usually used as reference, but she knows Danny’s face better than any picture. Time is soon lost as she loses herself in the work. She hates how her mother disapproves of this career, she  _ is _ good at this. This could definitely be something she does for the rest of her life.

Her pocket buzzes bring her to the present, and disappointment can be felt when she sees it’s only a text from Tucker.

TUCKER: how r u

TUCKER: In like general

SAM: Fine.

TUCKER: will u come to party?

TUCKER: theres some veggy foods here

TUCKER: dont make fun of me for not knowing how to spell vegitable

SAM: I wasn’t planning on going.

TUCKER: alright

The conversation is muted. Tucker means well, but she could rarely drag herself to go to parties in the past and without Danny it now seems impossible. Their friendship is now complicated, Sam and Tucker’s. Danny’s part of the reason Sam and Tucker became friends. Without him it’s now strained. She thinks. Kind of. Like she said: complicated. Either way being around Tucker while she’s trying to sort out how to move on with her feelings about Danny would only cause more trouble. It’s best to talk with him after the funeral tomorrow.

Her attention is now back on Danny and to look at her work. What she did was subtle, but now he looks more like the Danny Fenton she remembers. His cheeks look less sharp, round and the potential to compliment a great smile, his straight black hair, his bright blue eyes-

Eyes? His eyes were supposed to be closed. They  _ were _ closed. How are they open?

I take a step toward the gurney.

Danny Fenton sits up and screams.

* * *

**_SNAP!_ **

It’s like that.

Danny bolted upright and had no idea where he was.

He’s screaming and has no idea why.

So he stops. Except not. No. He’s definitely not screaming.

Oh. It’s Sam. Sam is screaming. She’s there wide eyed, screaming like someone shanked her with a rusty pike. But what’s going on?

“Sam?”

She up against the wall, and probably wishes she could back up farther. But instead she points at me, “You’re dead!”

“Am not.” But then he sees where he is, on a metal table in a place that looks like a classic mortuary. There’s a sheet over him and he can see lichtenberg scars at the edge of it, a peek shows them continuing and that there are two cuts that run across the top of his chest, meet at his sternum and keep going down. A shiver runs through him as he pulls the sheet tighter against him, it’s not caused by the cold though, he doesn’t feel cold, he doesn’t feel anything.

“What the hell is going on?” Danny demanded. “What is- Is this a joke? This isn’t funny.”

“You’re dead,” she says again. “You died. How is this possible?”

“Fine, fine,” he says. “Don’t answer. I’m outta here.” Danny slides off the table to make his way to the door.

“What’re you doing? Get back on the table.” Clearly, Sam isn’t thinking as rationally as she usually does.

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“You’re dead, Danny!” The words cause him to stop short, his hand an inch from the doorknob. “Four days ago you were electrocuted. We were all hanging out in your parents’ basement, and then you died.”

Danny doesn’t turn. Not yet. “Why am I here?”

“Because your funeral’s tomorrow. You had an autopsy and then they brought you here, this isn’t right, this can’t be happening.” The panic in her voice is the same as the time they got caught by Mr. Lancer ditching class. “You’re supposed to be six feet under tomorrow.”

Danny turns around at that. “Well, screw that, no way in hell I’m being buried alive.”

“You’re not alive!”

“What do you mean! I’m standing here!”

“I don’t know!” Sam kind of slumps against the wall and her hands cupping her face as she avoids looking at him. “I don’t know.”

“I can’t be dead,” Danny protests. “We were down in the basement because you wanted to look around, and we were looking at one big project my parents were working on, we couldn’t figure out what it was meant to be. You wanted me to get a closer look, and I told you it was a stupid idea, but I approached it anyway and…”

“And what, Danny?”

“And…” Danny’s trying, he really is, but as he roots through his memories all that comes up is approaching the machine and… “And nothing. I woke up here.” A heavy coldness gripped Danny's chest at the realization, and he soon found himself on the floor crying, only no tears were produced.

The crying eventually calmed down, and Danny caught Sam’s gaze. She’s trembling too, like she’s scared, but Sam’s rarely scared and that causes Danny to fill up with more dread. “What?”

“What do you mean what? You’re dead-”

“I’m not dead.”

“Do you have a heartbeat, Danny? And what about the cold, are you even cold?”

Pressing a hand to his chest Danny looks for it only to prove Sam wrong. Only Sam interrupts, “That’s not where the heart is.”

“I might be a C student-”

“And that’s your fault for not actually doing the assignments.”

-but I know where the heart’s supposed to be.” Danny’s growing agitated, same with Sam. His hand drops, “Why does it matter anyway? I’m sitting here talking with you, this conversation is getting ridiculous, no matter if it’s beating or not this mess is happening.”

“This shouldn’t be happening.” It’s more said to herself than Danny. 

“Okay, it’s a fucking miracle then,” He says. “You guys won’t be burying me alive now.”

“You’re not alive!”

And really, this song and dance is getting frustrating, actually it’s been frustrating from the beginning, so Danny drops it. “What were you even doing here, standing over my body? And on top of that, I’m naked, why the hell am I naked?”

Sam turns the slightest bit red at the cheeks, and turns her suddenly hard gaze to one of the tables. She’s come to realize that the sheet Danny’s gripping is the only thing he has. “I was fixing your makeup for the funeral tomorrow. And you’re naked because that’s how you were delivered.” There’s a bag of clothes hanging nearby. “That’s what your mom wants you to be buried in.”

“Alright, Sam I guess that’s nice of you, the makeup I mean…” He sounds a bit awkward now, he doesn’t know how to feel about wearing makeup. “Why would you do that though, I mean you know you didn’t have to, and I don’t know how hard it is to.. Um..” He’s voice got quieter, not really wanting to say the words “prepare your best friend’s corpse” it’d make this situation too real.

“You died, Danny.” Her voice was also quiet, but held the same power before. “I just wanted to see you one last time.”

“Oh…” And what do you say to that, I’m sorry for your loss? Danny is the loss, and he’s standing right there, no longer a loss! There’s a silence that seeps into the air, it’s thick, suffocating, and Danny really doesn’t want to break it with his terrible word choices.

“We have to figure out what’s going on.” The words are sharp and serious, as much as Sam’s face in that moment.

“I’m alive,” Danny says. “Isn’t that it, nothing more?”

“You’re  _ not _ alive!”

“If I’m not alive then what am I? A _ zombie? _ ”

“No. Maybe. Do you wanna eat my brains?”

“Nah, I doubt it’d make me smarter.”

“What is that supposed to mean.”

“If I can’t get smart from eating someone’s brain then where’s the benefit? And maybe you aren’t as smart as you think if you nearly buried your best friend alive.” That last comment was a low blow, but it must be said again that neither of them are in a good mindset.

“You’re. Not. Alive.”

And Danny replies with a sneer, “You know what I meant.”

Then the mood sobers, “How messed up was everyone when I died?”

“Your parents were a wreck, they blame themselves since the shock came from their project.” Sam pauses, stalling for time as her tongue slips across her dry lips. “Dash has been keeping to himself for once, he leaves the room at the sight of us. Paulina and her group have been looking for pity points, it’s disgusting... ...I haven’t been paying much attention to anyone else.”

“What about Tucker? How’s.. How’s he doing? Please tell me you’ve been talking to him at least.”

“I’ve been talking to him.”

“Sam, spill it.”

“There’s nothing to spill. Lay off, Danny.”

But Danny keeps at it, he can’t help. Tucker is as much a friend to him as he should be to Sam. “Please tell me I was the only reason you guys were friends? I would understand if it was at first, but we’ve been friends for years, we all have so much fun together, and care for each other.”

Sam stands up straight looking in Danny’s conflicted eyes with her own that held a slight coldness to them. “We both cared for you, Danny. That’s the thing we had in common, so shut up about it, okay? Can you do that, or do I need to put you back in the freezer?”

Danny’s whole body tensed with that threat and the words she said before. He was the reason for their friendship, and now with him gone he’s the reason for it ending.

The topic needs to be changed, he doesn’t know how long he can keep talking about this before he cries again, so he says, “As comfortable as this sheet is, I’d love some real clothes.”

And with that Sam’s stare turns suspicious like the change in topic is a trap and not an escape. When Danny doesn’t add more she turns to grab the bag she pointed to earlier, inside was a dark suit that looks like the collar would choke him.

“Over my dead body.”

“On your dead body, specifically.”

Danny shakes his head, a scowl on his face. “My parents expect me to wear that to the afterlife?”

Sam snorts. “They probably wanted to make sure you matched what everyone in hell was wearing. Anyway, it’s not that bad, Danny.”

“Have you ever worn a suit?” Danny thinks back to see if he ever saw her in one, she wouldn’t look bad in one. “No? Then shut it. If I’m not dead now that’ll make sure of it.”

“Danny, this isn’t the time to be worried about clothes, you literally rose from the dead.” Danny replies with a middle finger, wow, mature much? “Fine, if you don’t wanna wear it…”

“What?” He stands up and leans slightly on the wall behind him.

Sam’s thinking, her jaw tightens, but soon slacks when she finds a solution. “I think I have some of your clothes still in my room from when you and Tucker snuck in for that sleepover. They’ll probably be good enough for how long… this lasts.”

She then adds, “You’re on your own for eternity.”

**Author's Note:**

> This won't be following allow perfect with the plot, I plan to skip around to different scenes because I don't believe I have the patience to write everything. I'm already starting chapter 2, so this is going better than my past fics.
> 
> Please let me know if I need to add certain tags, I don't know what I'm doing there.


End file.
